Dear
Bernie:
 |
| From the floor of University at Buffalo's Alumni Arena |
I felt the Bern, I really did.
I voted for you, I bought your swag, I donated $27 on more than one occasion, I
went to your rally in Buffalo, NY. But now I fear that all my berning has left
me with a metastasized Nader right on my Electoral College.
You have a long and admirable
career of calling out the wolves in sheep’s clothing, and yes, you have been on
the right side of history more often than not.
Last summer, you came on the national scene like
a whirling dervish, even though we political nerds already knew who you were. Your unkempt look and non-traditional personality had a quaint charm that many people took an immediate shine to. You took a country by storm politically, especially the people who really do not follow politics, but were attracted to your unpolished bluster. The benefit is that you raised so many issues that no one in politics had the courage
to touch.
Your complaints that the media was suppressing
you was brilliant. The Millennials and middle class voters you are attracting
loves a righteous underdog to advocate for via social media. And they did. Your
message of $15 minimum wage and free tuition for all traveled up and down the Internet’s highways and byways. Your video clips were stirring. You packed
stadiums and activated a younger generation. And on more than a few occasions you rattled the cages of the establishment.
But, not atypical to political
history, the activists had a passion that would not carry triumphantly to the ballot box. You relied on for social media blasts, stadium
rallies, and $27 donations did not always coalesce on the various primary
Election Days. Too many Bern-ers either did not vote, forgot, did not register,
or felt they had already fulfilled their civic duty.
Now, the Bernie movement is becoming
relegated to a defiant hashtag: #Bernieorbust. The problem is, politics is more than hashtags. Politics, beyond social media and money is how much of that passive action turns into votes on Election Day. In 2000, there was a presidential election- one that was won by George W. Bush, the trust fund businessman over Al Gore the Vice President, thanks in large part to the jilted feelings of Green Party or Bust voters. Neither Bush or
Gore was exciting, but they were both more mainstream than Ralph Nader, who was
running for his fourth time as an impassioned environmentalist, and Pat
Buchanan, the Conservative party’s far right answer for the election.
In Election 2000, minor party
and write-ins accounted for 3.6% of votes cast[1],
but that was enough to put Dubya in
office because of Florida. In Florida, regardless of chads, dimples,
butterflies, or the US Supreme Court, according to final totals, George W. Bush
won the state by 537 votes. Nader got 97,488[2] in Florida, meaning if just 0.65% of Nader's Florida voters had changed their votes from protest to acquiescence, history would have worked out completely differently. Loyalty and passion are lovely attributes, but are you willing to bet your children's future on it?
And the Republicans have had the same problems,
which is why they want you to keep fighting! In 1992, H. Ross Perot stole
enough votes in enough states to help Bill Clinton win an election that George
Bush I may have otherwise dominated.
Now, whether every Perot vote would have gone out to vote, and whether
they would have all voted Bush is impossible to say… But for arguments sake, converting
Perot votes to Bush flips the election. Without
Perot, Bill Clinton would have lost an additional 26 states, including liberal
bastions like California, Massachusetts, and Hawaii[3].
In Electoral Votes, we are talking a dizzying swing of 306 Electoral Votes moving
from Bill Clinton to George Bush. Rather than winning with a 100-vote buffer,
Clinton would have garnered only 64 of the 270 EV’s needed.
My fear, Bernie, is that your shtick is wearing
thin on voters. The party has heard your voice, and now you are simply taunting
and poking the bear. Why, because you have the bank account to afford it? Your
opportunity to speak at the convention, and continue to advance your rhetoric
is quickly running out. You are threatening your otherwise noble campaign to be
history’s 2016 Edition of Nader and Perot.
Fringe candidates are fun.
They shake things up a little, but I fear you are overstepping your warrior
status into becoming a nuisance benefitting the Trump campaign. Don’t you
realize that these open primary voters could be republicans trying to put their
thumb on the scale[4]?!
You have made your point, and the
party has noticed. Now it is time to walk away. You say that you do not want
Trump to win. Well, you are helping Trump now more than any media source ever
could.
You fought the good fight.
It’s time for Hillary to carry the baton. Rally the troops back into the
Democratic tent, just as Hillary Clinton did in 2008 after an equally
contentious primary election.
I will root for you to speak at the convention,
but for that to happen, you need to be an asset to the Democrats. Right now I
am afraid your remaining fans are becoming overcome with emotion. The fact is,
and you know it, most of your most rabid fans had no idea you existed last
spring. But your message connected to them--- you just could not convert them
into voters.
Thank you for your dedication, and I look
forward to seeing your stalwart passion back on the Senate floor serving the
country as you have for decades. You are a dedicated public servant, and for
that we all say thank you.
Very
Truly,
A
Grateful but Tired Nation
[1] National Archives and
Records Administration. (N.D.). 2000 Presidential Election.Retrieved from
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2000/popular_vote.html
[2] National Archives and
Records Administration. (N.D.). 2000 Presidential Election.Retrieved from
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2000/popular_vote.html
[3] UC Santa Barbara.
(2016). The American Presidency Project. Retrieved from
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1992
[4] Savransky, R. (2016,
May 10). Exit polls: Nearly half of W.Va. Sanders backers would vote Trump. The Hill. Retrieved from
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/279430-nearly-half-of-sanders-voters-in-west-virginia-would-vote
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